Midlothian: Two bodies found inside barrels

The bodies of two people found Friday inside 55-gallon barrels in Midlothian have been tentatively identified as a missing Leon County woman and her daughter, authorities said.

The Dallas County Medical Examiner will conduct autopsies Saturday and most likely positively identify them through dental records, authorities said. Investigators are looking into whether the bodies were in a freezer before they were found on Friday.

A man told police around 10:30 a.m. that he saw the suspicious containers while driving along the 1200 block of East U.S. Highway 287 in Midlothian in Ellis County, said Midlothian Capt. John D. SpannÖ.

An officer opened one of the blue metal barrels and discovered the decomposed body wrapped inside a comforter and other bedding, the captain said. The second barrel was opened at the Dallas County Medical Examiner's office. Each barrel was sealed with duct tape.

The body in the opened container has not been identified and was too badly decomposed to tell whether it was male or female.

Leon County Sheriff's officials will be in Dallas on Saturday with the dental records for a mother and daughter who have been missing for nearly a month in hopes of identifying the bodies.

Gay W. Clinton, 43, and her daughter, Samantha R. Clinton, 14, were reported missing Dec. 21 after relatives couldn't reach them. James D. Clinton, who was wanted for questioning in their disappearances, was found dead in a Grand Prairie motel room earlier this month. His death from a gunshot wound to the head was ruled a suicide.

Mr. Clinton and the missing woman and girl lived together in Centerville in Leon County. After Mr. Clinton committed suicide, Leon County investigators found a refrigerated truck-trailer with lots of blood inside. The trailer had been on Mr. Clinton's property in Centerville, police said.

Police are unsure how long the barrels had been by the side of the road. Capt. Spann said the four-lane highway has a great deal of traffic, but the barrels may not have been seen unless someone was looking away from the road. The barrels had rolled down a hill and were about 30 feet to 50 feet away from Highway 287, Capt. Spann said.

"They were probably dumped," he said. "And they rolled down to where there used to be a fence and the trees have grown up."

Here is an update, with photo of the Mom and daughter...

2 bodies found in 55-gallon barrels

01/18/2003

By JENNIFER EMILY / The Dallas Morning News

The bodies of two people found Friday inside 55-gallon barrels in Midlothian have been tentatively identified as a missing Leon County woman and her daughter, authorities said.

The Dallas County medical examiner will conduct autopsies Saturday to identify the bodies through dental records, authorities said. Authorities are investigating whether the bodies were in a freezer before they were found Friday.

A man told police about 10:30 a.m. that he saw the suspicious containers while driving along the 1200 block of U.S. Highway 287 in Midlothian in Ellis County, said Midlothian police Capt. John D. Spann.

The bodies of two people found Friday inside 55-gallon barrels in Midlothian have been tentatively identified as a missing Leon County woman and her daughter, authorities said.

An officer opened one of the blue metal barrels and discovered a decomposed body wrapped inside a comforter and other bedding, Capt. Spann said. The second barrel was opened at the Dallas County medical examiner's office. Each barrel was sealed with duct tape.

The body in the opened container was too badly decomposed to identify whether it was male or female, officials said.

Leon County sheriff's officials will be in Dallas on Saturday with dental records to determine whether the victims are a mother and daughter who have been missing for nearly a month.

Gay Clinton, 43, (right) and daughter, Samantha, 14, have been missing since Dec. 21.
(Courtesy of KWTX)

Gay Clinton, 43, and her daughter, Samantha Clinton, 14, were reported missing Dec. 21 after relatives couldn't reach them. James Clinton, who was wanted for questioning in their disappearances, was found dead in a Grand Prairie motel room this month. His death from a gunshot wound to the head was ruled a suicide.

Mr. Clinton and the missing woman and girl lived together in Centerville in Leon County. After Mr. Clinton committed suicide, Leon County investigators found a refrigerated truck-trailer with blood inside. The trailer had been on Mr. Clinton's property in Centerville, police said.

The barrels had rolled down a hill and were about 30 feet to 50 feet away from Highway 287, he said.

"They were probably dumped," he said. "And they rolled down to where there used to be a fence, and the trees have grown up."

E-mail jemily@dallasnews.com

Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/011803dnmetmidlothian.31aa6064.html

Reminds me of a family "horror story"!

I am from Key West, Florida and I can remember my Great-Grandmother telling a tale of her youth. When she was about 15 (1888) her family (like everyone else in Key West at that time) used to get much of their staple foods from Cuba. Such items often came in wooden casks and crates which they sold in a small market.

To make a long story... short, they regularly got molasses in large wooden barrels, installed a spigot, and drained the contents over a year or so. Well, it seems one barrel that they got ran short of molasses in just a few months but was still quite heavy! Her Father (my Great-Great-Grandfather) broke open the top of the barrel to find out what the problem was.... and found (you guessed it) a dead, well preserved male body with his throat cut!

For obvious reasons, my Great-Grandmother usually used to tell that tale AFTER everyone had eaten a breakfast of PANCAKES and MOLASSES!

Hadn't thought of that tale in 20+ years but your posting immediately brought it to mind!

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